THE “march on Rome” of October 28th, 1922, marked the advent to power of the Fascist Party in Italy under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. The seizure of the government through a coup d’état was justified by the claim that Italy had to be rescued from the imminent danger of a Bolshevist revolution. Before the eyes of a world horrified by the tragedy of Russia, Italian Fascism assumed the role of the knightly Saint George who had slain the red dragon of Communism. The legend appealed to the imaginations and soothed the fears of all the good people of Europe and America. It became the sacred myth around which was woven the early Fascist propaganda. In the present book the reader will find hard facts, not vague legal formulæ; concrete realities, not abstract doctrines. Its purpose is to provide the English-speaking public with accurate information not about the whole economic, social, and political system of the Fascist dictatorship, but about one single phase of it, i.e. those institutions through which Fascism claims to have solved the problem of the relations between capital and labour.

In lively language, Hans Karl Peterlini guides us through the recent history of South Tyrol. He illuminates the developments and key events, including the fighting in the First World War, the option and Italianisation of the country under the fascists, the political efforts for autonomy and the bomb attacks. Furthermore, Peterlini tells the stories of the people of South Tyrol, their economies, cultural creations and lifestyles, their misunderstandings, and achievements in reconciliation - right up to the present day.

This book examines the relations between the Vatican and the Fascist regime in Italy during the period 1929-1932. The author sets out what he believes to be the long-term consequences of the 1931 crisis, and in so doing challenges a number of previously accepted interpretations.